Wednesday, December 29, 2010

At elevation 6300', I knit like a fiend while listening to vintage Clapton blues. A pot of beef curry simmered in the pressure cooker, and raita mellowed in the refrigerator. That night brought in a foot of snow that cloaks colors, deadens sound, and freezes creatures.

My brain reviews events and starts to consider "intentions" for self when there's "a little time". This list was started years ago when my children were born and I could not hold so many thoughts in my head, so I wrote them down and referred to them when I had 15 minutes for myself. This exercise of recording and thus freeing my mind has become useful to me over the years.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

A total lunar eclipse occured last night. The last lunar eclipse on a solstice happened in the 1600s, and the next one will take place in another 400 years. The clouds parted long enough so that the lunar thumbnail disappeared, then glimmered, then went totally dark before the clouds closed in again. From this darkness, during the eve of the longest night of the year, the earth continued on its path and the moon was once again revealed. "Remember, my friends, no matter how dark it is now, Solstice means the light is coming." [Stephanie Pearl-McPhee] ...And from the dark depths of the lunar eclipse on the solstice, the emergence and ever-increasing duration of light comes from a deeper source.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The perennial question of "so what do you want for Christmas?" has been asked, and I have the luxury of having so much to live with and from, that I get to think about a response that can engage others around me.

The adage "think global, act local" has always been meaningful to me. So I return to this, especially as the general economy is depressed, and the action is to "shop local". This idea is described simply in the 3/50 Project: pick 3 local independent "brick and mortar" stores you couldn’t live without and if you spend $50 each month amongst the 3 then basically you are strengthening your own community.

It’s important to remember the repercussions our purchases have. For every $100 spent on local independent stores, $68 goes back into the community through payroll, taxes, and other expenditures. If you spend $100 on a national chain store, only $48 comes back; and if you buy from an online source, NONE of it comes back.

I want my friends and community to do well and to be well. In turn, we will be better equipped to reach out and assist others - on a local AND global level.